Writing for the Web

If you’ve never heard of Markdown, it’s a great way to write for the web. Instead of typing HTML, you mark your writing in a way that’s faster and easier. The document remains easy to read, and afterward, you can convert to HTML.

Gedit used to have a plugin that let you edit Markdown and export to an HTML file. That no longer works with newer versions, but you can still edit. To do so, save your document as a Markdown file by ending with .markdown or .mkd. Then go to View > Highlight Mode…

To convert that Markdown to HTML we switch from gedit to the command line. I use the markdown_py command. Open the terminal and type:

markdown_py '/home/.../file.mkd' -f '/home/.../file.html'

In the above command, the first file is the source. -f tells markdown_py to output the conversion to the second file.

To avoid using the command line on GNOME, you can download Atom. This text editor is based on Chromium and is extensible. Add markdown-preview to view a live preview as you type. You can then copy and paste HTML from the app.

Apps for Writing an eBook

Writing an eBook isn’t easy. After you get your words together and make edits, you have to deal with formatting. That isn’t as simple as opening up LibreOffice and clicking the tool bar. EBooks come in special formats, the most common of which is ePub.

Getting Rid of Distractions

No matter what you’re writing, distractions don’t help. Anything can ruin your concentration. It could be a notification or merely the numbers of your clock ticking away. Hiding the notification area may help you hunker down.

You can open gedit, Atom, LibreOffice, and AbiWord fullscreen. That might be enough. Pressing F11 usually does the job.

For long projects, FocusWriter can set daily writing goals, track your word count, and provide other statistics. This may be the motivation you need to finally write the next great novel.

Ready to Write?

Linux may not have as many options as other platforms, but writing isn’t a complex task. With the software above, the essentials are covered. And when you consider that these apps are all free, Linux is perfect for the beginner writer’s income.

What operating system do you do your writing from? What applications would be hard to do without? Let’s talk, writer to writer, in the comments below.

Bertel both earned a college degree (in the humanities) and built a career using Linux-powered laptops. Now he uses his education and life experience to question the ethical decisions behind today's technology. He advocates the use of free software and believes computing should be accessible to all regardless of economic…